Two years ago, when I was choosing my GCSE options, art seemed like a great idea. My other 10 subjects were all inherently academic, and I thought that art GCSE would allow my creative side an outlet in the midst of all the hardcore academia that I was undertaking. I had heard vague whispers from older students that art was a "a killer subject", but I ignored them: how could it be that hard? I had always enjoyed painting and drawing, and I thought art would be my refuge from a world of essays, calculations and in-depth analysis.

Cheating in GCSE and A-level exams increased last year, with teenagers caught
almost 4,500 times, official figures showed today.

A quarter of children at England's toughest schools are now classed as
habitual truants, according to league tables.

One in ten schools failed to achieve the Government's minimum target of five top grade GCSE passes including maths and English, with the gap between rich and poor pupils growing, league tables published yesterday showed.

Head masters have launched a bitter attack on the Government's "deeply flawed"
league tables after a string of top private schools were named last on a
technicality.